Automotive Sound Quality –
Powertrain, Road and Wind Noise
Gabriella Cerrato, Sound Answers, Inc., Troy, Michigan
This is the second article in a series on the subject of sound
and vibration quality. The first (May 2007) covered the sound and Enjoyment
vibration quality target development process. This focuses on the
automotive industry and specifically on sound quality issues in
vehicles (vibration quality will be covered separately) related to Road / Wind Noise Causes Character (Engine)
• Annoyance • Sporty / Refined
powertrain, road and wind noise. The next article will discuss • Loss of speech • Accessories
sound quality criteria for the remaining automotive components/ intelligibility • Quality
sub-systems [accessories, BSR (buzz, squeak & rattle), brake, static
sounds]. I need to remind the readers that my goal is to provide
a review of knowledge and techniques, well knowing that it will
Comfort Appeals
not be exhaustive and that I will miss a lot of things. I apologize • Visual
in advance and I would like to ask readers to e-mail me with com- • Acoustic
ments, questions and suggestions for the next articles in the series. • Ride
This article provides a brief summary of objective parameters or
metrics used for each sub-system/component in a vehicle. The User Friendliness Convenience
description of the techniques used to derive either these metrics
(signal processing) or their correlation to customer perception
(jury studies) is outside the scope of this article. However, an Figure 1. Impact of NVH on overall vehicle harmony.
extensive list of references is provided, where these methods are
Loud Aggressive
detailed (references are grouped by system and chronologically
within each system). Finally, the article is limited to the sound
inherent in a vehicle during its operation, so it does not address
issues such as sound quality of car audio or active noise control
WOT Engine Noise @ 100 kph, dB(A)
systems.
Sound Quality and Vehicle Harmony Sporty
Vehicle sound and vibration quality is a very broad subject,
since our interaction with the vehicle is fairly complex. Audio and
tactile feedbacks are combined with visual cues and ever-changing
Comfortable
driving and boundary conditions. In industrialized societies, where
the use of passenger cars has been prevalent for the last several
decades, we have developed precise expectations for the “feel”
of a car, and these expectations drive, along with cost and fuel
Characterless Silent
consumption, our purchasing decisions. Despite the fact that the Wind/Road Noise @ 100 kph, dB(A)
world has become “flatter” so to speak, these factors (feel/look,
cost, fuel consumption) assume widely different values depending Figure 2. Example of brand sound design (adapted from Reference 2).
on geography and culture. When I moved to the U.S. from Italy in
the early ‘90s, I purchased a totally “manual” car; that is, no power • Detectability – component shoujld not be detected in normal
windows, seats, manual transmission, and I was very happy to be driving conditions
driving a relatively small, noisy, four-cylinder car (very similar - Transmission, gear, A/C compressor, alternator, fuel pump,
to what I had been driving in Italy). After living here and driving tires, power steering, etc.
American cars, my expectation has indeed changed. In the mean-
time, though, overall vehicle quality has improved tremendously, Tone-over-masking criteria
which is consistent around the world. I never cease to marvel at
the quietness of European cars with diesel engines or of Korean • Acoustic Image – component expected to make audible
vehicles at idle. Vehicle manufacturers have clearly put a lot of noise, but it has to match customer expectations
effort into specific attributes of their product to better align the - Character: Engine
product to customer expectation. - Quality: Accessories (door closure, seat adjuster, power
Noise and vibration play an important role in what is called the window, windshield wiper)
overall harmony of the vehicle. The term harmony is often used - Comfort: road and wind noise
to describe the relationship between form on one extreme of the
spectrum and function at the other extreme, and is associated to Brand sound
the oft-heard statement of “form follows function.” In other words, Figure 3. Automotive SQ concepts.
today’s vehicles have to perform all the functions that drivers and
passengers expect while providing a comfortable and enjoyable more direct impact on overall appeal.
environment. It is the job of human-factors experts to bridge the gap Automotive companies around the world have invested consid-
between form and function and establish a target balance between erable resources in the past 20 years to understand what role sound
these two elements for each vehicle class and type. and vibration play in a customers’ perceptions and to establish
The role of noise and vibration factors on the vehicle harmony realistic targets to ensure commercial appeal. In fact, in the past,
elements is summarized in Figure 1.1 Some NVH elements affect the NVH of a vehicle would present collateral damage to other
comfort, such as gear whine, boom, tire and wind noise. Others design choices. Now, NVH design is often tightly integrated with
like engine noise in acceleration and ride and handling have a vehicle development starting in its early stages, when the NVH
16 SOUND & VIBRATION/APRIL 2009 www.SandV.com
attributes are designed to express a very strong brand identity. An
excellent example of brand sound design, or designing the sound
around the brand name of the vehicle, is illustrated in Reference
2. Here the author describes the process developed by BMW to
design the sound of the vehicle as an attribute expressing strong
brand identity. The BMW sound portfolio, as it is called, is sum-
marized in Figure 2, where the two main noise attributes at 100
km/h (engine noise and wind/road noise) are plotted against each
other. The two diagonal lines represent the thresholds for definite
sporty (to the right) and definite comfortable (to the left). Therefore
if BMW were to design a new sedan, it would be positioned in the
middle region.
To translate these concepts to engineering targets, it is useful to
Figure 4. Change in level due to component start in two different masking
classify sound and vibration quality (SVQ) components based on scenarios.
the complexity of the approach their solution requires. Specifically,
I like to group automotive SVQ issues in detectability and acoustic/ edged sword” As we will see, this is true for both interior and
feel image, as described in Figure 3. exterior noise, since the internal combustion engine is a source of
The sound/vibration quality concerns related to detectability masking for all other sources.
issues are generally easier to investigate, because they are one In the vehicle interior, when there is no engine, there is no
dimensional in the sound quality space. Think of axle whine as an masking, and the noise from all other noise sources (pumps, com-
example; the whine is due to one narrow-band frequency that first pressors, fans, etc) becomes suddenly very noticeable. Therefore,
becomes audible, then annoying, since its level increases over the the first issue that needs to be addressed is the detectability of all
rest of vehicle noise (also called masking). In this case, the sound accessories/subsystems, especially when they start and stop. This
quality problem is: “what is the maximum allowable level of noise is illustrated by Figure 4, where the dB(A) function vs. time for a
coming from the axle that will not cause a sound quality complaint pump on event is displayed (the event occurs at about 1.5 s). With
or will not be clearly perceived by the driver?” The solution clearly the engine running, the event produces an increase of about 3 dB
depends on vehicle masking, which is vehicle and operating con- and, while noticeable, it is not judged to be reason for concern.
dition dependent, and from the difference in level between axle But if we assume that the background noise was 6 dB lower (and
noise and masking. Simply put, if the axle noise reaches a high this is a very conservative estimate of the difference between
level, it is detected and is objectionable. internal combustion engine and electric vehicle masking, which
On the other hand, the acoustic image of the vehicle is multi- may actually be around 15-20 dB) and the pump had the same
dimensional, in that multiple components that are time and contribution at the receiver (that is, same source and same path),
frequency dependent interact and combine to create an overall the delta level at the start of the pump would be around 9 dB(A),
vehicle sound. The NVH system having the most impact on the which is unmistakably noticeable and annoying.
vehicle’s overall image is with no doubt the engine. Over the last One also has to consider that with an internal combustion
few generations, in industrialized societies where the automobile engine, most of these accessories are driven by the engine (and
has become such a prominent part of our lives, we have grown therefore have expected speed ratio and patterns of harmonics),
accustomed to expect different acoustic signatures from differ- but in a vehicle powered by an electric motor, the speed of pump/
ent vehicles. There is no doubt in my mind that appreciation for fan/compressor may be unrelated and may spread over different
vehicle sound quality is an acquired taste, (like Korean Kimchi, frequency ranges.
which I have grown to appreciate only after many visits to Korea). The electric motor will also generate noise, but typically in a
I believe that in societies where automobiles have been the main much higher frequency range than an internal combustion engine.
means of private transportation for decades, drivers and passen- Its noise can be more easily attenuated by careful design of trans-
gers have very specific expectations for vehicle sound quality. The mission loss and acoustic absorption of vehicle floor/dash/trunk
exciting news is that all this is going to change; with the advent (depending on the layout of the powertrain).
of alternative powertrains and of vehicles with different acoustic Two interior noise components that are unchanged are road
signatures, our expectations will also change. This obviously poses and wind noise. Not only are their relative contribution to overall
new challenges for automotive engineers but it also presents an interior noise larger in electric vehicles but also they may be the
opportunity for some innovative thinking. only elements providing acoustic feedback to the driver with
regard to vehicle speed and acceleration. Since they cannot be
Hybrid Vehicles suppressed completely, the overall sound quality balance of the
The image concept is undergoing a profound change with the electric vehicle has to be designed around their temporal pattern
advent of hybrid vehicles. Conventional hybrids such as Toyota’s and frequency characteristics. One strategy adopted by manufac-
Prius have become a common sight, and major vehicle OEMs are turers of electric/hybrid vehicles (and also by manufacturers of
developing a next generation of hybrids that can be plugged in to vehicles with cylinder deactivation) is the injection of pleasant,
extend their electric range and greatly improve fuel economy.4 “cool” powertrain sounds.
Entirely electric vehicles are also available on the market,5,6,7,8 The exterior noise of hybrid vehicles also poses new design and
while other companies work toward building the electric vehicle testing challenges. First of all, electric/hybrid vehicles at low speed
support network and infrastructure.9 The sound and vibration (in a parking lot) tend to run on the electric motor only, so they are
signature of electric and hybrid vehicles in general is quite differ- extremely quiet. Pedestrians use auditory as well as visual cues as
ent from vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, but warning signals that a vehicle is approaching. Current regulatory
so are customers’ expectations, since the degree of “greenness” requirements aim at limiting the noise emitted by a vehicle in its
of the vehicle weighs the fuel efficiency/fuel independence more loudest mode of operation (see pass-by test in ISO 362), and there
heavily than look and feel. is still no provision for ensuring that quiet vehicles can be heard
From a sound quality standpoint, there are two main design by pedestrians. This is of utmost importance for the blind com-
challenges: munity, which obviously relies exclusively on auditory cues for
• Interior noise, which needs to provide an image of quality and detecting approaching vehicular traffic.6 With this issue in mind,
“cool” the automotive industry in North America has formed a Society
• Exterior noise, first to ensure safety and next to be used for of Automotive Engineers subcommittee to investigate this grow-
brand recognition ing concern and develop recommendations. The most commonly
Quoting one of the several excellent papers authored by N. Otto4 devised solution is for the electric vehicle to generate exterior
at Ford, “the lack of engine noise in electric vehicles is a double- noise by means of loudspeakers mounted on its front section. But
www.SandV.com SOUND & VIBRATION/APRIL 2009 17
the question arises on which sound should be generated: beeps,
bells, white noise, the sound of an engine or other option? What
features of a sound make it detectable in an outdoor soundscape?
How could the intrinsic directivity of the vehicle as it drives by
be used to create or optimize a “cone of sound” aimed at lateral
pedestrians? Several teams of researchers, automotive engineers
and legislators are currently working on this issue. I have no answer
to these questions.
Finally, if a solution is implemented that generates sound at the
exterior of the vehicle, depending on vehicle speed and driving
condition, the vehicle OEMs can also use this as an opportunity to
increase the recognition of their brand. In this scenario a pedestrian
would not only detect an electric vehicle which is approaching at
low speeds, but would also recognize it to be a Tesla, Toyota, or
Ford, depending on the sound it generates.
I see all this as an exciting challenge for innovative engineering Figure 5. Example of poor powertrain SQ, time-varying loudness vs. RPM
work. We need to have an open-minded approach. Automotive of vehicle interior noise during engine acceleration.
engineers have the opportunity to shape the sound quality expec-
tation of the users; i.e., the fact that we are used to vehicles with 80
internal combustion engines should not influence electric vehicle
designers to make the electric vehicles sound like an internal
combustion engine. Maybe in a transition phase. But 50 years Overall dB(A)
from now, probably no one will even remember how a gasoline
dB(A), Ref. 20 µPA
60 2EO
engine sounds.
Internal Combustion Engine
In a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine, the 40
quintessential element defining the character of the car is the
engine. In general, the isolation of the passenger cabin from the
engine has improved significantly over the years; therefore, the
issue now is more about the quality of the sound of the engine 20
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
than its noisiness. Of note is the fact that the powertrain has been RPM
the first vehicle subsystem for which sound and vibration quality
Figure 6. Example of poor powertrain SQ, order slices vs. RPM of vehicle
attributes have been extensively mapped by vehicle OEMs. This is interior noise during engine acceleration.
highlighted by the fact that the majority of the important references
on this subject date from the mid-’80s to the mid ’90s. ceptable than a quieter signature
The two main sound quality criteria for the powertrain are: lz = 1.2 m that exhibits deviations of more
• Max loudness (or A-weighted sound pressure level) for overall than 6-7 dB from its mean under
noise and main engine orders (that is firing frequency and its the same test conditions. This
first few even, odd and half-integer multiples), at idle and in type of effect is called “boom”
hard and slow acceleration conditions. by vehicle engineers. Typically,
lx = 2.6 m
• Linearity of overall noise and engine orders, that is the require- the most annoying occurrences
ment for them to grow linearly with the RPM, with no significant Width (door to door) of boom are at steady state – at
ly = 1.2 m
peaks and valleys.13 idle or cruise condition, when
An example of poor sound quality is represented by the data in 2 2 2 the frequency of excitation from
c Ê nx ˆ Ê ny ˆ Ê nz ˆ
Figures 5 and 6. In Figure 5, the two lines on the graph show the f = Á l ˜ +Á l ˜ +Á l ˜ the engine aligns or is very close
2 Ë x¯ Ë y¯ Ë z¯
time-varying loudness measured in a compact four-cylinder engine to an acoustic cavity mode. Boom
vehicle at the passenger position during a slow partial throttle is not just triggered by the engine;
acceleration on a chassis dynamometer (red and green represent Figure 7. Resonant frequencies it can also be triggered by a low-
of room acoustics as applied to
right and left ear respectively). The problem area, between 3800 interior of vehicle. frequency mode from the tires or
and 5000 RPM is circled, showing strong deviations of up to ±4 to even by the motion of an acces-
5 sones from what would be the ideal trend (broken blue line). This sory such as a power seat with the engine off.
is a problem area, since the overall level, in this case measured by The root cause of boom during vehicle acceleration is the excita-
time-varying loudness, exhibits a strong amplification as the engine tion of the engine at its firing frequency, which is transmitted from
sweeps through a certain RPM range (3800 to 4300 RPM), followed engine and/or exhaust to vehicle body panels, which then excite
by a significant level reduction in the next RPM range (around acoustic cavity mode(s). Every cavity has acoustic resonant fre-
4500 RPM). Just by looking at this plot, we know that the overall quencies; the trick is in understanding the structural and acoustic
impression of this vehicle will not be that of a smooth and refined modal alignment charts of the trimmed body and body in white, to
ride. On the contrary, the vehicle will feel very “boomy.” decouple as much as possible one from the other and ultimately
In Figure 6, overall sound level and order slices from the same isolate the trimmed body as much as possible from the engine in
data are presented, showing that the reason for the poor sound the frequency range of the acoustic cavity modes. This is clearly
quality between 3800 and 5000 RPM is the second engine order not as easy to do as it is to talk about it.
(labeled 2EO on the plot in red). By comparing the level of 2EO to Acoustic cavity modes are easily computed using acoustic
the overall A-weighted sound pressure level (in black), it is clear finite-element approaches, but if you don’t have access to these
that 2EO is the sole contributor to the perceived noise and that tools and want to get a quick estimate of their frequencies, you
its level exhibits min-to-max excursions of up to 15 dB between can also apply a very simple formula developed for small-room
3200 and 5000 RPM. acoustics. Figure 7 shows the formula and the required geometric
An important fact of sound quality perception is that changes dimensions of the vehicle cavity. The resulting table of values will
of any characteristics of the noise (level, pitch, modulation etc.) give you a rough estimate of the frequencies of the modes and of
are noticed and may tune the driver’s ears to a particular noise their frequency spacing/density, but of course it will not provide
feature. In other words, a vehicle signature that is loud but grows any information on the spatial pattern of the mode. (For this, a 3D
linearly with engine RPM and vehicle speed will likely be more ac- acoustic simulation tool is essential.) For example, you can expect
18 SOUND & VIBRATION/APRIL 2009 www.SandV.com
a typical four-door sedan to have around 10 to 15 acoustic modes
approximately between 50 and 200 Hz. Larger cavities such as in
minivans and trucks will have lower frequency modes, and sporty
two-seat cars will have higher frequency modes.
Along with powertrain engineers, audio engineers are also very
interested in acoustic cavity modes, since they have to tailor the
location of loudspeakers to achieve the best overall performance
of the audio. To do so, they need to know the spatial pattern of the
main acoustic cavity modes. This is why you can easily find room
mode calculators in audio system engineering websites (check
www.mcsquared.com or www.harman.com).
In summary the sound quality, or refinement, of a vehicle pow-
ertrain is often objectively measured using the following metrics,
which are evaluated for linearity as well as level:
• Loudness
• Tonality (includes boominess)
• Roughness and fluctuation strength
Diesel Engines
For diesel engine sound quality, you need to look at the tech-
nology advances made in Europe over the past 20 years. To my
knowledge, the first exhaustive investigations of the characteristics
of diesel engine noise and attempts to develop objective metrics for
Figure 8. Spectrograms of diesel engine at idle inside three different super-
its perceived quality were done in the UK in the mid ’80s.32 With duty trucks.
the current market share of diesel-powered vehicles in Europe ap-
proaching 50%, much effort has been devoted by European vehicle • Filtering the raw signals to focus subsequent analysis on a
OEMs to improve customer perception of diesel engine noise.36 specific frequency range (500 < f < 5 kHz for diesel knock and
In most passenger vehicles, diesel engine noise is acceptable at clatter). This can be done by simply high-passing the recorded
high-speed cruise conditions. The majority of the adverse reaction signal or alternately by running nonstationary loudness algo-
to diesel noise (“it sounds like a tractor”) occurs at low speed and rithms and extracting excitation level and/or specific loudness
idle. This is the condition where a diesel noise signature differs functions vs. time.
the most from the signature of a gasoline engine and also where • Identification/localization of impulses (large deviations from
its typical impulsiveness and irregularities are most noticeable. mean) over processed functions by means of statistical param-
Other than sound pressure level (or loudness), the most peculiar eters (crest factors, kurtosis, etc.) to quantify the impulsiveness
acoustic features of diesel engines at idle are: of the signal.
• Sharpness or high-frequency content (relative to low fre- • Distribution (standard deviation, percentile, etc.) of peaks of
quency) processed functions (overall or during one combustion cycle)
• Tonality to quantify the irregularity of the signal.
• Impulsiveness (periodic), often referred to as “diesel knock” • Correlation to subjective perception (jury) to identify the best
• Irregularities (aperiodic), often referred to as “diesel clatter” metric and define its target value (for acceptable/good diesel
Figure 8 is an example showing the independence between engine sound).
loudness and irregularity. The three plots relate to idle noise mea- This is the fundamental approach that has been applied by
sured in exactly the same location and condition in three different vehicle OEMs around the world to quantify diesel sound quality.
(but comparable) heavy-duty trucks. In the top plot, individual I am sure that company-specific metrics have been developed and
impulsive events with content up to about 1500 Hz can be seen are routinely applied in vehicle development. However, it is inter-
clearly. In the middle plot, no impulsive events are shown, with esting to note that, despite these developments, the “judgment” of
approximately the same loudness as in the top plot. The bottom dieselness is still not fully understood. I am referring to an inves-
plot shows impulsive (and periodic) events with lower levels up to tigation41 where 40 sounds from both diesel and gasoline engines
1500 Hz. The subjective perception of the corresponding recordings were presented to two juries of people (one of naïve jurors, one of
(shown in the figure) agrees with what the data indicate. experts) who were asked the following question: “Is the sound you
Diesel acoustic signature originate from higher pressures in the just heard from a diesel or a gasoline engine?” All jurors, experts
diesel combustion process and higher forcing functions to the en- as well as naïve, demonstrated an uncanny ability to discriminate
gine structures. Of these, three (loudness, sharpness, and tonality) diesel engine sounds, even the ones with less “dieselness,” from
are measured by steady-state metrics, while the impulsiveness and those of gasoline engines. The vehicle OEM who commissioned
irregularities have to be assessed by using time-domain approaches. the study (BMW) then wanted to assess the correlation between
(European researchers use the term “dieselness” to describe these jury results and four different metric algorithms of dieselness to
time-varying features of diesel engines.) Unfortunately, while identify the most representative one. The results show that the
clearly noticeable by the human ear, these are not easily captured dieselness metrics deviate substantially from the psychoacoustic
by using traditional time-domain statistical analyses of the raw ratings, which clearly indicates that more research is needed.
signal, such as crest factor, kurtosis, standard deviation, etc. The The metrics commonly used for diesel sound quality are:
reason for this is that the very impulsive nature of diesel noise • Overall level: Zwicker loudness, composite rating of prefer-
generates frequency spectra with significant broadband energy ence, dB(A)
around and above the engine harmonic content; therefore, the raw • High-frequency content: sharpness, spectral balance
signal is extremely rich and complex and requires some “focused • Impulsiveness: kurtosis/standard deviation of sound pressure or
cleaning” prior to metric computation. loudness-derived functions vs. time or crank angle.
Several algorithms have been developed to quantify “dieselness,” • Irregularities: amplitude modulation of peaks of band-passed
ranging from relatively easy (crest factor and standard deviation of amplitude/energy metric function vs. time, statistics of peaks
impulse peaks37) to complex ones (localization and rating of events of same function
of compressed, post-masked excitation levels39). Regardless of the • Tonality, pitch strength
sophistication and complexity of the algorithms used, the basic
approach to quantify diesel engine sound quality, both interior and Exhaust and Intake Tuning
exterior, is the same, and that is: Once overall quietness and linearity of orders from engine are
www.SandV.com SOUND & VIBRATION/APRIL 2009 19
addressed (main powertrain targets), it is often required to tune the
interior sound to match the desired acoustic image. This is typi-
cally done by manipulating the acoustic performance of exhaust
and intake systems. Exhaust/intake tuning refers to the art and
science of balancing the requirements of engine sound and power
performance to achieve the best possible compromise. An excel-
lent review of intake and exhaust noise issues is in Reference 20.
The tuning of the exhaust note during acceleration is done by
designing the desired sound at the tailpipe and accounting for its
contribution to the interior receiver. However, it has to be noted
that the ever more stringent European legislation on pass-by
noise has significantly reduced over the years the capability of
exhaust engineers to tune the exhaust for sound quality. In general,
complying with pass-by legislation requires the use of silencers
with relatively high insertion or transmission loss, that produce
a quiet but not sporty interior sound. In practice, this means that
often vehicle manufacturers who want to achieve a sporty interior Figure 9. Interior noise in high-performance vehicle with baseline muffler
(top) and variable geometry muffler (bottom).
sound have more room to maneuver by tuning the intake than the
exhaust tailpipe noise.
Tuning in both exhaust and intake can be achieved by either
completely passive means; i.e., with silencers of different perfor-
mance, or by active means, that is by varying the geometry seen by
the flow as a function of operating condition (flow rate, speed, etc.)
or by a hybrid mix of these approaches. High-performance vehicles,
especially from European OEMs, have used valves in the exhaust
since the early ’90s. By using valves, it is possible to use the same
exhaust line, without additional muffler volumes. The great ad-
vantage of exhaust valves is also that they allow a high-performing
vehicle to comply with the pass-by test, while at the same time
achieving great sporty sound at engine RPM higher than the range
experienced during the pass-by tests. An example of the effect on
the interior sound of such a variable-geometry muffler is shown in
Figure 9. Both spectrograms show the interior noise at DRE during
a third-gear WOT (wide open throttle) acceleration from about 3500
to 8000 RPM. The top plot refers to the baseline (passive) muffler,
and the bottom one to the variable-geometry muffler with a valve Figure 10. Tonal noise target surface.
that opens past 5000 RPM (and therefore past the RPM range of
the pass-by test) to provide less obstruction to the exhaust gases making the vehicle sound boomy or too loud.
(and therefore less back-pressure and more noise). In summary, the metrics used to assess intake/exhaust tuning
Intake tuning is often done by either passive, active, semi-active are:
or hybrid strategies.31 The goal of intake tuning is typically to • Levels of engine orders vs. RPM
increase in a balanced way the harmonic content in the mid-fre- • Level difference between integer and half orders, especially in
quency range – between 200 and 800 Hz. In practice, this means an the 200-800 Hz range (shown in Figure 9)
increase of not only integer engine orders but also half orders, and
a well designed balance of integer and half orders in this frequency Driveline
range creates sounds with sporty, aggressive connotation. The level Unlike engine sound quality, which needs to be carefully de-
difference between half orders and integer orders is responsible signed for, typical driveline sound quality issues derive from gear
for the roughness of the sound, and a rougher sound is generally mesh frequencies being heard as pure tones over background noise.
perceived as being more aggressive, which is one possible conno- From a sound quality standpoint, this is a much easier problem
tation of sporty. But we need to note that two different groups of to deal with. For starters, the detectability threshold of pure tones
people may react to the same sound in an opposite way. This has over masking that have been established from psychoacoustic ex-
recently been well illustrated in Reference 25, where a jury study periments apply fairly well to drivetrain-related tonal components.
with two different groups of jurors was conducted to investigate This is a case where the real noise is not much more complex
the effect on the perceptions of “pleasant” and “powerful” of the than the elementary noises (sine waves, band-passed masking
level and frequency range of integer and half orders. Not surpris- noises, etc.) used in psychoacoustic experiments. Furthermore,
ingly, higher levels of integer orders were confirmed to increase the detectability of tone over masking can be accurately measured
the powerfulness of the sound, while higher levels of half orders by comparing A-weighted gear-mesh order slices to either overall
were found to generate roughness. However, one group liked the noise or noise within the third-octave band centered around the
rougher sound, because they found it powerful. But the other group tone. Finally, the number of pure tones due to driveline dynamics
did not like it, since they found it unpleasant. This demonstrates is generally limited to a few (fundamental gear-mesh frequency
once again the importance of correctly mapping customer expecta- and maybe its first harmonic); therefore, more sophisticated
tion when designing the sound quality of a vehicle. In an article broadband-type tonality metrics, such as tonality, tone-to-noise
by researchers at Honda R&D, the regression equation (model) for ratio, prominence ratio, etc., are not required.
sportiness is provided in the following general form:25 A good approach to driveline SQ is described in References
45 and 46. In Reference 45, the authors provide a nice analysis
Sportiness = coeff1 ¥ OC + coeff2 ¥ T + coeff3 ¥ DRPM
of the perception of tonal components generated and/or radiated
where OC is the level of order content, T is a tonality-type metric off the transfer case, transmission, differential and drive shafts.
and DRPM describes the (probable) rate of change of the engine They derive three metrics for transmission tonal noise, all based
RPM. The specific metrics are obviously confidential, but the on fundamental psychoacoustic findings but expressed by simple
impression is that the idea of sportiness of a sound increases with parameters, such as difference in level between tones and mask-
the level of engine orders, with tonality and depends on the rate of ing. The problem is in finding the maximum allowed level for the
change of the RPM. The challenge is to achieve sportiness without tone not to be noticeable against masking. This can be expressed in
20 SOUND & VIBRATION/APRIL 2009 www.SandV.com
60 terms of a smooth 3D surface,
like the curved plane shown
in Figure 10, which represents
the maximum allowed level
Sound Pressure, dB(A)
50 for the tone as a function of
frequency (X axis) and RPM (Z
axis). Frequency components
40
sticking out of this plane are
clearly audible.
The metrics used to measure
the audibility and annoyance
30 of gear noises are surprisingly
200 600 1200
RPM simple, such as a level differ-
ence between the A-weighted
Figure 11. Measured gear-mesh order SPL of gear-mesh orders and
and target for masking function. Figure 12. Road noise input and paths.
either total noise or band-
passed noise. This level difference is a function of the frequency of
the tone and the frequency of the masking, which in turn depends
on vehicle operating conditions.
One must note that, especially for a classical gear whine issue,
the sound quality concern is not so much from the presence of
a loud tone, rather from the fact that its’ level varies with time/
RPM. Generally in sound quality, change of noise is bad, because it
focuses our attention on the noise itself. Often loud noises do not
cause complaints simply because they are always present. While
a gear whine that, as an example, onsets at exactly 45 mph and
goes away at 55 mph, is very noticeable in slight acceleration like
passing. For this reason, the maximum level allowed for the tone Figure 13. Example of good and bad road noise quality for “mid/high fre-
has to be expressed as a function of RPM, against which measured quency” concern; time on X-axis (10s), frequency from 0 to 2000 Hz on the
or predicted gear mesh SPL have to be plotted. The data in Figure Y-axis, color denotes amplitude.
11 show an example of clearly audible gear whine at a prop-shaft
speed of 700 RPM, because the measured order (in pink) exceeds
by 7-8 dB the target curve (in blue).
• The metrics used for driveline sound quality are:
• Order slices versus RPM
• Tone-over-masking detectability thresholds
Tire/Road Noise
Tire/road noise has become increasingly important for overall
sound quality perception due to the ongoing and successful reduc-
tion of powertrain and driveline noise. Road noise generally starts
to be noticeable at vehicle speeds above 30 mph, but its contribu- Figure 14. Example of poor sound quality due to low-frequency tire noise.
tion to overall interior noise is maximum between 40 and 60 mph
and then decreases at higher speeds, where aerodynamic noise tire acoustic cavity modes are typically structure borne. Alongside
becomes predominant. the tire acoustic cavity modes, low orders of the tire rotation (re-
For this reason, tests for road noise are generally conducted lated to the number of block elements around the tire) can affect
at constant conditions, typically 50 mph and in coast down on the sound quality. Figure 14 is an example of poor sound quality
different road surfaces. Road noise is generated by the interac- at vehicle interior due to the presence of both a 14th order of rota-
tion between the tire and the road surface and excites the vehicle tion of the tire and two closely spaced tire acoustic cavity modes
through both structural and airborne paths (see Figure 12). around 200 Hz.
An example of good and bad road noise is provided in Figure 13. In cases of strong phase alignment between tires, modulation
The FFT color maps represent the analysis of the sound measured may also occur and contribute to the overall perception. However,
at the right ear of a binaural head positioned on the passenger seat this does not occur often, and modulation is not typically an ob-
of a production sedan driven at 50 mph over a smooth asphalt road jectionable attribute of road noise.
(vehicle, road and test conditions are the same between the two The perception of road noise is therefore mainly affected by:
plots, the only difference is the tires). As clearly shown, the main • Tonality in the low-frequency range, which can be measured
difference occurs between 500 and 1300 Hz, which is the typical by tonality-related metrics such as tonality, tone-to-noise ratio,
“tire-band” range. In this range, both broad-band and narrow-band prominence ratio, etc.
(tonal) components may be present, due respectively to turbulent- • Broad-band air-rush-type of noise in the mid frequency range
type excitation at the tire patch and to tread pitch harmonics. (500 to 1300 Hz), which can be measured by using broad-band,
In this frequency range, the path followed by the noise from amplitude-related parameters such as the articulation index,
the tire patch to the interior occupants is airborne; i.e., through A-weighted SPL or loudness. In cases where the level in the
holes, leakage, and due to insufficient acoustic transmission loss tire band is noticeable and yet it does not significantly impact
of vehicle floor, doors, windows. In the case of Figure 13, since a broad-band parameter such as ASPL or loudness, then it is
the vehicle is the same, the only difference is the acoustic source necessary to increase the resolution of the analysis and compute
strength of the tire patch. In other words, the sound power of the some spectral envelope type of metric to relate the content in the
tire patch is very different between the two tires. Tire/road noise tire band to the overall content of the signal. I often find that a
may have significant acoustic contribution at low frequencies, target expressed as maximum SPL in each 1/3 octave band as a
and especially around 200 Hz, where tire acoustic cavity modes function of vehicle speed works better than an overall value such
are present. Since the tire/road noise is generally transmitted only as the articulation index, speech intelligibility or loudness.
through structural paths (tire-to-wheel-to-tie-rod-to-suspension-to- I have to point out that this is the result of my experience, and
body) for frequencies up to 200 Hz, the tonal components due to does not align with some of the other assessment methods for an-
www.SandV.com SOUND & VIBRATION/APRIL 2009 21
Masking mouth opening. While researchers and hardware vendors have been
Noise from all exernal sources Original modulation investigating the directivity of the human mouth and developing
(tires, powertrain, wind) hardware to achieve the highest possible degree of correlation, a
coming to cabin interior from
all paths (airborne and Corruption by
simpler and perhaps less accurate, but still very useful, approach
structure borne) background noise is that of using a normal binaural head, insert inside its torso an
off-the-shelf loudspeaker and use its front-mouth cavity to generate
Result is lower noise in the environment. One or more “receiver” binaural head
modulation at listener
Tests on road can be used to measure the binaural sound at the receiver posi-
tions (second or third row). A set of signals, octave-band wide,
with different modulation frequencies is fed to the source binaural
Reverberation Original modulation head and the response measured at the listeners positions. This
Depends on absorption of
interior acoustic package
artificial excitation test can be done in the lab, with no excitation
Corruption by to/from the vehicle, but also on the road, when actual masking is
reverberation present. Other approaches try to simplify this procedure by using
STI tests in lab
simpler parameters, such as the speech interference level (SIL) and
Result is lower
preferred speech interference level (PSIL) to correlate to speech
modulation at listener
intelligibility.51
Figure 15. Forms of speech corruption.
The sound quality metrics used for road noise are:
• Loudness, articulation index and dB(A)
noyance due to excessive road noise. As an example, Reference • Tonality/tone-to-noise ratio/prominence ratio
49 describes the procedure followed to derive a tire noise model • Roughness/fluctuation strength
based on loudness, roughness and fluctuation strength. It is pos- • Speech intelligibility and (indirectly) speech transmission
sible that the noise recordings included in the jury test described index
in that paper had significant amplitude fluctuation, which explains
the presence of fluctuation strength in the model. However, this Wind Noise
has not been my experience with vehicles and tires sold in North Wind noise is the predominant component of interior vehicle
America. Ultimately, road noise is a comfort factor and should be noise at speeds above 100 kph. It is typically tested at steady
loud enough to provide acoustic feedback of vehicle speed but not vehicle speeds between 100 and 160 kph, either on the road or
at all annoying and noticeable. in a wind tunnel.
The metric most often used to assess road noise performance Wind noise refers to the following noise and conditions:
is the articulation index, which is a global parameter aiming at • Aerodynamic noise made by the vehicle as it moves at high speed
establishing the masking effect of background noise relative to through a steady medium (air). This is related to the aerodynamic
the capability of listeners to detect articulated words. It is always (or drag) coefficient of the vehicle, which is a function of the
measured with the vehicle driven in accelerating and cruise con- vehicle shape and its cross-sectional area.
dition and it is based on a 1/3-octave-band spectrum analysis of • Aerodynamic noise due to turbulence through “holes,” which
the overall noise measured at the driver/passenger head position. is correlated to how tightly sealed the vehicle is (around doors,
The main drawback of AI is that it includes both the effect of the hood, windshield etc.).
noise/vibration coming from the exterior inputs (the tires) and • Aerodynamic noise due to exterior varying wind conditions,
that of the acoustic boundary condition of the cabin (reflection, such as cross-wind on a highway. This is different from the
absorption). For a more efficient vehicle development, it would be previous two, since this type of wind noise is fluctuating.
useful to separate the forced response of the vehicle from the inte- • Very low-frequency (10 to 20 Hz) beating noise occurring when
rior acoustic boundary conditions, and establish separate targets either a rear window or the sunroof are partially open. This is
for path sensitivities and for the interior acoustic package. This is due to the Helmholtz resonance of the vehicle cabin, which is
of relevance especially considering the increased need for good excited by the air flow along the boundary of the window or
speech intelligibility inside today’s vehicles with entertainment sunroof opening.
centers and voice activation capabilities. The last two types of noise are also often referred to as wind
The metric that links the speech intelligibility performance buffeting or wind gusting noises. The frequency spectrum of steady
to the acoustic characteristics of the cabin interior is the speech wind noise is typically broadband and heavily biased toward the
transmission index (STI).48 STI is a physical quantity that mea- low frequencies (31.5 to 63 Hz). Gusting noise due to cross-wind,
sures the capability of a given environment to transmit unaltered as an example, is impulsive and has content at higher frequencies
speech from a talker to a listener. The basic assumption is that (above 300 Hz or so).
the understanding of speech is based on the appreciation of the Perception of steady-state wind noise (such as the first two types
amplitude modulation, which is intrinsic to the speech. If the listed above) is well characterized by Zwicker loudness.54 Other
amplitude modulation of the speech is lost or reduced when the researchers have complemented the use of Zwicker loudness with
sound travels from the source (talker) to the receiver (listener), then the binaural cues provided by recordings made in the vehicle with
the comprehension at the listener is compromised. The presence an artificial binaural microphone.55 The binaural cues can be used
of masking noise can reduce the modulation depth of the trans- to localize the provenance of the wind noise.
mitted speech signal, and so does the amount of reverberation in As for time-varying wind noise, such as from wind gusts, a gust-
the environment (Figure 15). The change of the modulation from ing metric has been proposed by Ford researchers.58 The metric
the talker to the listener is measured by the modulation transfer is based on Zwicker loudness excitation and detects “gusting
function (MTF), which is measured at several octave band center events” by assessing the relative changes in the excitation level.
frequencies and for different modulation frequencies. The MTFs It is therefore independent from the absolute value of loudness.
are then combined in a weighted sum to produce the STI, which Using Zwicker loudness and this gusting metric, the researchers
is normalized between 0 and 1. developed a linear regression model capable of predicting the an-
How to test for STI in a vehicle cabin? Luckily several refer- noyance due to both steady-state and fluctuating wind noise.
ences are available in the literature with excellent descriptions of For the rear window or sunroof buffeting, the metric typically
the procedures tried and lessons learned.51 Since the use of STI used is simply the peak level of the sound pressure at the resonance.
for automotive interiors is fairly recent, there are still no standard An example of rear window buffeting is shown in Figure 16, where
tests, however from the lessons learned, one can easily develop a the top plot depicts the time history of the sound pressure at the ear
controlled and possibly simplified test procedure. To measure STI of a rear passenger during a light acceleration from 40 to 50 mph
in a vehicle interior, one typically needs a “talking head,” which (note the fairly sudden onset of the resonance), and the bottom plot
is a binaural mannequin with a loudspeaker in its interior and a shows the FFT spectrum of the same signal at resonance.
22 SOUND & VIBRATION/APRIL 2009 www.SandV.com
Conclusions
By reviewing the current knowledge on this subject, it is clear
that technology and tools are available now to quantify the quality
of any vehicle sound. The process is well defined, and there are
many examples in the literature that can be used as a starting point.
However, with this positive conclusion also comes a word of cau-
tion, which is that sound quality models (the relationship between
sound quality metrics and human perception) are not cast in stone.
Rather, they are subject to change with the introduction of different
types of vehicles (think electric and hybrid as examples).
An example of customer expectation changing over time can
be seen in Reference 66, which shows how interior vehicle noise
spectra at 100 kph have changed over the years from the late ’70s to
the late ’90s (higher low frequencies, much lower high frequencies).
So a metric derived in the ’70s (the composite rating of preference)
should be modified to better account for the spectral envelope of
current vehicles.
References
Vehicle Harmony
1. Greig, J., “Form vs. Function: A Systems Approach to achieving Har-
mony,” SAE 1999-01-1266.
2. Penne, F., “Shaping the Sound of The Next Generation BMW,” Inter-
national Conference on Noise and Vibration Engineering ISMA 2004,
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3. Zeiter, A., Zeller, P., “Psychoacoustical Modeling of Sound Attributes,”
Figure 16. Rear-window buffeting; peak at 15 Hz. SAE 2006-01-0098.
In summary, the metrics used for wind noise are: Electric/Hybrid Vehicles
• Zwicker loudness for all steady-state wind noise 4. Otto, N., Simpson, R., Wiederhold, J., “Electric Vehicle Sound Quality,”
• Changes of loudness relative to steady state for gusting/cross- SAE 1999-01-1694.
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the Blind Community,” SQS 2008, Dearborn, MI, July 31, 2008.
Vehicle Exterior Noise and Pass-By 7. www.teslamotors.com
8. www.aptera.com
Pass-by testing has nothing to do with sound quality. It is strictly
9. www.betterplace.com
a mandatory test to ensure that a vehicle’s exterior noise at speci-
fied operating conditions is below a defined threshold value. This Engine/Exhaust/Intake
threshold value is expressed in dB(A), and it is the max value 10. Aoki, M., Ishihama, M., Kinoshita, A., “Effects of Power Plant Vibration
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in relation to diesel engines but also for gasoline vehicles. I am During Acceleration,” SAE891155.
12. Genuit, K., Gierlich, H. W., “Investigation of the Correlation Be-
aware of a couple of research projects on this subject: Sound Qual-
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Community, and the German project Silent Traffic, sponsored by 13. Schiffbanker, H., Brandl, F. K., Thien, G. E., “Development and Applica-
the German Ministry of Education and Research. In both, one main tion of an Evaluation Technique to Assess the Subjective Character of
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14. Riding, D., Weeks, R., “The Application of Noise Simulation Techniques
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16. Feng, J., Otto, N., “Synthesis of Powertrain Sounds for Investigations in
used by vehicle manufacturers as an element of brand recognition
Roughness,” SAE931333,
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a pedestrian likes the sound quality of Car A, he or she may decide During Acceleration,” SAE951314.
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I have not personally worked on this aspect of vehicle sound
19. Matsuyama, S. and Maruyama, S., “Booming Noise Analysis Method
quality yet, since I believe this is at least for now an issue arisen Based on Acoustic Excitation Test,” SAE 1998 World Congress and
mainly in Europe due to the strong government push for reduced Exhibition, Detroit, MI, SAE980588, 1998.
community noise and improved quality of the soundscape. From 20. Davies, P. O .A. L., Holland, K. R., “I.C Engine Intake and Exhaust Noise
Assessment,” Journal of Sound and Vibration, 223(3), 425-444, 1999.
what I am aware of on the subject, I can summarize the follow-
21. Hetherington, Hill, Pan, Snider et al., “Simulating Odd Fire V-10 Exhaust
ing: Noise for Sound Quality Evaluation,” SAE1999-01-1652.
• The test conditions have to include realistic scenarios, not 22. Hatano, S., and Hashimoto, T., “Booming Index as a Measure for Evaluat-
just the pass-by test procedure. Recommended test procedures ing Booming Sensation,” Proceedings of Inter-Noise 2000, Nice, France,
2000.
include: vehicle driving by the receiver microphone at 70 kph
23. Lee, S. K. Chae, H. C, Park, D. C. and Jung, S. G., “Sound Quality Index
steady; vehicle approaching at 50 kph steady, starting to brake at Development for the Booming Noise Of Automotive Sound Using Arti-
–25 m, come to a full stop in front of the microphone, drive away ficial Neural Network Information Theory,” Sound Quality Symposium
at moderate acceleration (to simulate the traffic light scenario). 2002, Dearborn, MI.
24. Lee, M. R., et al., “Exhaust System Design for Sound Quality,” SAE
• The results of subjective testing are preliminary so far and no
2003-01-1645.
definite sound quality preference models for exterior vehicle 25. Ishii, Y., et al., “A Support System for Development of Sporty Soundand
noise have been derived. However, the following parameters Its Application,” SAE 2003-01-1400.
have been suggested:64 boom index – A-weighted sound level 26. Venghaus, H., “Valves in Exhaust Systems,” CFA/DAGA ’04, Strasbourg,
France, 2004.
below 250 Hz; difference between loudness at f < 2000 Hz and
27. Brassow, B., et al., “Powertrain Sound Quality Development of the Ford
loudness at 2000 < f < 5000 Hz; sharpness (t); and prominence GT,” SAE 2005-01-2480.
ratio, to measure the impact of tonal components. 28. Hatano, S., et al., “Desirable Order Spectrum Pattern for Better Sound
www.SandV.com SOUND & VIBRATION/APRIL 2009 23
Quality of Car Interior Noise,” Inter-Noise 2005, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 50. Onusic, Baptista, Hage, “Using SIL/PSIL to Estimate Speech Intelligibil-
2005. ity in Vehicles”, SAE 2005-01-3973.
29. Kim, S-J, Lee, S-K, et al., “Objective Evaluation of the Passenger Car 51. Viktorovitch, M., “Implementation of a New Metric for Assessing and
During Acceleration Based on the Sound Metric snd Artificial Neural Optimizing the Speech Intelligibility Inside Cars,” SAE 2005-01-2478.
Network,” SAE2007-01-2396. 52. Lee, S. D., “Characterisation of Multiple Interior Noise Metrics and
30. Dunne, G., Williams, R., Allman-Ward, M., “An Efficient Approach to Translation of the Voice of the Customer,” International Journal of
Powertrain Sound Quality Decision Making Based on Interactive Evalu- Vehicle Noise and Vibration, Volume 2, No. 4, 2006.
ations Using a NVH Simulator,” SAE2007-01-2392. 53. Frank, E., Raglin, C., Pickering, D. J., “In-Vehicle Tire Sound Quality
31. Dunne, G., “Recent Industry-Wide Advances in Powertrain Sound Prediction from Tire Noise Data,” SAE2007-01-2253.
Quality Hardware Tuning Devices, and Perspectives on Future,
Medium and Long Term Further Advances,” SAE 2009-01-2192. Wind
54. Otto, Feng, “Wind Noise Sound Quality,” SAE 951369.
Diesel Engines 55. Hoshino, et al., “Evaluation of Wind Noise in Passenger Car Compart-
32. Russell, M. F., Worley, S. A., Young, C. D., “Towards an Objective Esti- ments in Consideration of Auditory Masking and Sound Localization,”
mate of the Subjective Reaction to Diesel Engine Noise,” SAE870958. SAE 1999-01-1125.
33. Shafiqussaman Khan M., et al., “Annoyance of Idling Diesel Engine 56. Amman, et al., “ Subjective Quantification of Wind Buffeting Noise,”
Noise Evaluated by Multivariate Analysis,” Noise Control Engineering SAE 1999-01-1821.
Journal, 43(6), November-December 1995. 57. Rossi, et al., “Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of the Aerody-
34. Lowet, G., et al., “Development of a Metric to Quantify Diesel Engine namic Noise Generated by Air Flows Through Car Windows”, EuroNoise
Irregularities,” EuroNoise 98, Munchen, Germany. 2003, Naples, Italy.
35. Takata, H., Nishi, T., Davies, P., “An Optimization Technique for Improv- 58. Blommer, et al., “Sound Quality Metric Development for Wind Buffeting
ing the Sound Quality of Idling Diesel Engines,” Inter-Noise 99, Fort and Gusting Noise,” SAE 2003-01-1509.
Lauderdale, FL, December 1999. 59. Bodden, et. al., “Interior vehicle sound composition: wind noise percep-
36. Ingham, R., Otto, N., McCollum, T., “Sound Quality Metric for Diesel tion”, CFA/DAGA 2004 Proceedings.
Engines,” SAE 1999-01-1819.
37. Patsouras, et al., “Calculating Sound Quality of the Outdoor Idling Noise Pass-By and Exterior Noise
of Diesel Powered Cars,” Euronoise 2003, Naples, Italy. 60. Notbohm, et al., “Psycho and Physiological Responses to the Perception
38. Bodden, M. Heinrichs, R., “Diesel Sound Quality Analysis and Evalu- of Vehicle Pass-By Noises,” Euronoise 2003, Naples, Italy.
ation,” Forum Acusticum 2005. 61. Gaertner, et al., “Perception of Sound Quality of Vehicle Pass-By Noises
39. Blommer, M., et al., “Sound Quality Metric Development and Applica- after Technical Modification,” Euronoise 2003, Naples, Italy.
tion for Impulsive Engine Noise,” SAE 2005-01-2482. 62. Gulbol, et al., “A Subjective Test to Characterize the Sound Quality of
40. Sasaki, M., Nakashima, K., “Human Auditory Models and Sound Quality Exterior Vehicle Noise,” Euronoise 2003, Naples, Italy.
Evaluation Method for Diesel Noise,” SAE2007-01-2219. 63. Gulbol, et al., “A Comparison of Subjective Response to Vehicle Pass-By
41. Fastl, et al., “Rating the Dieselness of Engine Sounds,” EuroNoise 08, Sounds Recorded under Different Urban Conditions,” Euronoise 2003,
Paris, France, July 2008. Naples, Italy.
42. Parizet, et al., “Noise and Vibration Annoyance in Diesel Cars at Idle”, 64. Krebber, et al., “Factors Determining the Quality of Vehicle Exterior
EuroNoise 08, Paris, France, July 2008. Noise”, Euronoise 2003, Naples, Italy.
65. Bisping, “Psychometric Analysis of Vehicle Pass-By Noise”, Euronoise
Driveline (Transmission, Axles, Driveshaft) 2006, Tampere, Finland.
43. Williams, et al., “Transmission Tonal Noise; Experimental Analysis of
the NVH Characteristics that Influence Sound Quality,” Proceedings of Sound Quality in Vehicle Development
IMAC XIV, Dearborn, MI, February 1996. 66. Fish, “Application of the Composite Rating of Preference to Road and
44. Vold, H., Deel, J., “Vold-Kalman Order Tracking: New Method for Vehicle Wind Noise,” SAE 98039.
Sound Quality and Drivetrain NVH Applications,” SAE972033.
45. Becker, S., Yu, S., “Objective Noise Rating of Gear Whine,” SAE 1999- Websites of interest (with tutorials and animations)
01-1720. Technology Review by MIT, http://www.technologyreview.com/
46. Becker, S., Yu, S., “Gear Noise Rating Prediction Based on Objective MC2 System Design, http://www.mcsquared.com/
Measurements,” SAE 1999-01-1721. JBL room mode calculator, http://www.harman.com/
47. Wilson, B., Clapper, M., “A Sound Simulation Technique Used for the DiracDelta NVH section, http://www.diracdelta.co.uk/science/source/n/o/
Prediction of Passenger Compartment Noise,” SAE 1999-01-1809. noise%20&%20vibration/source.html
ISVR Tutorials, http://www.isvr.soton.ac.uk/SPCG/Tutorial/Tutorial/
Tire/Road Noise StartCD.htm
48. European Standard - EN 60268-16:2003. Sound System Equipment – University of Salford, UK - animations, http://www.acoustics.salford.ac.uk/
Part 1 Objective Rating of Speech Intelligibility by Speech Transmission feschools/waves/contents.htm
Index. Kettering University (prof. Russell) - Animations, http://www.kettering.
49. Lee, S. J., Park J. B., Kang, H. S., “Study of Evaluation Method for Tire edu/~drussell/demos.html
Noise by Applying Sound Quality Metrics,” Inter-Noise 2004, Prague,
Czech Republic, August 22-25 2004. The author can be reached at: gabriella.cerrato@soundanswers.net.
24 SOUND & VIBRATION/APRIL 2009 www.SandV.com